The criminal justice system isn't doing enough to support those who
struggle to communicate fluently or follow the court process

[…]

And we should not forget the many foreign nationals we
prosecute. Brits abroad tend to get a sympathetic press when struggling in
foreign judicial systems but the sympathy is not replicated at home, as translation services
are contracted out and increasingly difficult to
access.

Thursday, 21 June 2012

There is much coverage in the media of delays
and/or postponements caused by failures by translation contractor Applied
Language Solutions. There is talk of up to fifty cases a day being aborted.
What is our local experience? Please could SNELS criminal practitioners advise
your PRO/PLO of any recent examples."

Friday, 15 June 2012

The
case had to be adjourned until the following day as no Lithuanian interpreter
was available. On June 8, after an overnight remand, they were back before the
court, this time with the assistance of an interpreter.

Thursday, 14 June 2012

The Crown Prosecution Service has delayed its rollout of the Ministry of
Justice framework agreement for the provision of interpreters and translators,
the Gazette has learned.

The CPS was due to sign up fully to the agreement on 1 June.

The MoJ brokered the framework agreement last August under which now
Capita-owned Applied Language Solutions would provide interpretation and
translation services across the criminal justice system.

Under the agreement, interpreters are provided at fixed rates through a
single route. Criminal justice agencies have been able to sign up to the
agreement since January when a contract began for the provision of interpreters
at courts and tribunals across England and Wales. The courtroom service has
been the subject of widespread complaints.

The CPS signed up to the framework agreement on 1 February and piloted
face-to-face interpreter services in its Lancashire, Staffordshire, West
Yorkshire and West Midlands witness care units.

The CPS was due to extend the arrangement nationally on 1 June, but a
spokesman said that date was ‘always going to be subject to review’ and that,
while feedback from reviews of the pilots had been ‘positive’, more time is
needed. ‘We decided, in conjunction with Applied, that more time was needed to
complete the tests while Applied is focusing on improving the service it
provides in the areas where it is already operating.’

The CPS said changes need to be made to the online booking system to
take into account the range of locations, other e-invoicing systems and to
ensure usability by caseworkers and finance staff. He said: ‘We are working
with Applied to ensure it will be able to move to national rollout as soon as
practicable.’

Monday, 11 June 2012

Company to carry out investigation after
interpreter fails to turn up at court

An investigation
is being carried out by the company at the centre of a nationwide outcry over
its failure to provide interpreters after a Bradford Crown Court robbery trial
was abandoned because a translator failed to turn up.

But after a
spokesman for Applied Language Solutions (ALS) had pledged to find out what
went wrong, the contractor sent along a Czech interpreter for the Slovakian
defendant the day after the jury was discharged.

On Thursday, the
judge in the trial of Stanislav Jano aborted the trial and relisted it on
August 29 after his interpreter did not turn up for the second day.

A Czech interpreter
arrived after 2pm, but Recorder Christopher Storey QC and the trial barristers
agreed it was “contrary to the interests of justice” to continue. On Friday,
ALS sent another Czech translator for the case.

He was then
employed by the court to interpret for a co-accused Slovakian man who pleaded
guilty in January and must now wait until after the trial to be sentenced.

An ALS
spokesman, told the trial had been scuppered by lack of an interpreter, told
the Telegraph & Argus: “We have been made aware of a Bradford case
involving the non-supply of a Slovak interpreter for the second day of a trial
and are investigating the court’s concerns as a matter of urgency.”

Yunus Valli,
barrister for Jano, told the judge there had been similar difficulties with
interpreters not turning up for cases at Bradford and Leeds Crown Courts.

Local judges had
raised concerns about ALS and he believed there was “a channel of communication
to the Lord Chancellor’s Department on this subject.”

Mr Valli said
another trial at Bradford Crown Court had found itself without an interpreter
on Thursday morning.

Recorder Storey
said ALS must “furnish an explanation”. The question of a costs order would be
raised when the Jano trial started afresh.

Meanwhile,
campaign group Interpreters For Justice claims ALS failed to meet 3,833
requests for translators during the first three months of its Ministry of
Justice contract.